HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Kayla Gray's late second-half goal lifted the University of North Florida women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky University in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the NKU Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
 
After NKU tied the game, Jill Holdsworth passed the ball forward to Gray, who broke away from the defense as she gained control of the ball.  NKU goalkeeper Brooke Schocker, who took over in the second half for the Norse, came out to meet Gray at the top of the 18-yard box, and Gray tapped the ball to her left and took a shot as she passed Schocker for her third goal of the year at the 83:08 mark.
 
Jess Kinlaw put the Ospreys on the scoreboard late in the first half to open the game's scoring.  Holdsworth sent a corner kick into the penalty box in the 41st minute, and Kinlaw's shot from just outside the six-yard box found the lower right corner of the net past the first-half Norse goalkeeper Tanner Ruberg.
 
The Norse evened the game in the 76th minute.  North Florida was whistled for a foul and Sami Rutowski took the free kick for NKU, which fell to 4-5-3 overall and 0-2-1 in the Atlantic Sun.  The ball found Jessica Frey, whose quick shot went by Ospreys goalkeeper Megan Dorsey.  Her second goal of the season found the lower right corner of the net to make it a 1-all game, setting the stage for Gray's game-winning goal.
 
"Jessica has worked really hard for us this season, and she almost had another goal that the keeper made a great save on," NKU head coach Bob Sheehan said.  "She's working hard and continuing to progress and improve, so congratulations to Jessica today."
 
NKU took six corner kicks on the day and was able to get four shots off of the chances, but the Norse were unable to capitalize.  Dorsey turned away headers by Sami Rutowski and Elizabeth Wittwer, and Aubrey Muench and Macy Hamblin's attempts went wide of the goal. 
 
NKU just missed on several quality opportunities throughout the game. Frey created two potential scoring plays in the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza.  Her first attempt was stopped by Dorsey and the second went just right of the goal in the closing seconds of the first half as the Ospreys took their one-goal lead into the halftime break. 
 
"It was a disappointing weekend for us," NKU head coach Bob Sheehan said.  "[Dorsey] came up big, and she's an outstanding keeper.  We knew she was an excellent keeper because she did really well against us last year, and she made some really nice saves so give credit to her.  We had multiple opportunities to serve the ball where our serves went out of bounds or never came, so we need to do a better job there.  It comes down to taking care of what we need to take care of, and we didn't do that today."
 
Alexis Bredeau led the Ospreys' offensive effort with three shots, including two on target, while Lanie Keating put each of her two attempts on goal and Holdsworth collected two assists for North Florida, which improved to 3-9-1 on the year and 1-1-1 in the Atlantic Sun.
 
Hamblin paced the NKU offense with six shot attempts, placing three on goal, while two of Frey's four shots were saved by Dorsey.  The Norse finished with a 19-11 advantage in shots, including a 7-3 margin in the second half, but only got one of their attempts past the North Florida defense.
 
Ruberg collected three saves as Schocker turned away two of the shots she faced for NKU.  Dorsey played all 90 minutes in goal for the Ospreys, surrendering the Norse goal and making eight saves.
 
North Florida remained perfect (3-0) in the all-time series with the Norse.  The Ospreys defeated NKU, 3-2, in overtime in the two teams' first-ever meeting during the 2012 season before handing the Norse a 3-0 loss in Jacksonville, Florida, last season.
 
NKU hits the road to continue Atlantic Sun play against Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 10 before heading to Stetson two days later.  Kickoff from Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday's action will start at 1 p.m.  Links to live stats for both contest and the ASun.TV broadcast for the Florida Gulf Coast game are available at NKUNorse.com.